


Little Red Riding Wolf

by confusedPaladin



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Earth, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, F/F, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-29
Updated: 2016-10-04
Packaged: 2018-04-17 19:30:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4678628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/confusedPaladin/pseuds/confusedPaladin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The shenanigans of Ruby Rose, a newly-turned werewolf.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to my older sister for proofreading!
> 
> I swear I will update this eventually. I haven't forgotten about it.

Yang woke to the nerve-grating sound of a phone vibrating on a wooden surface. She rolled out of bed, pushed her mess of blonde hair out of her face, grabbed her phone, and checked the caller ID. The contact name read, “Little Red.”

Why, she wondered, was Ruby calling her at 5:09 in the morning on the first week of summer break? She picked up the phone, ready to yell at her little sister for disturbing her so early in the morning. Yang could imagine the huge grin and the gleaming silver eyes squinted in silent laughter that belonged to her sister, in her bedroom just down the hall of their dad’s house, and she was not amused.

“Yang Xiao-Long, come pick up your lunatic sister right now! And bring her some clothes!” shouted a familiar voice, before Yang could get so much as a “Hello?” in.

“Weiss? Why are you using Ruby’s phone?” she asked, her anger forgotten thanks to the bewildering instructions. “And why do I need to bring clothes? What’s going on?” Suddenly, she smiled widely as something occurred to her. “Wait a minute, did you two--”

“Just get over here and see for yourself!” Weiss cut her off. “And for your sake I’m going to pretend I didn’t know where you were going with that thought.”

The line went dead.

Weiss is just as helpful as ever, Yang thought to herself, now very worried as she grabbed sweats and a t-shirt from her dresser. She grabbed her helmet and her spare, then headed out on her motorcycle for Weiss’ house, the sun just beginning to rise.

* * *

When Ruby woke up, the first thing she realized was that she felt very hungry. When her mind cleared a little, the next thing she realized that she didn’t know where she was. She was just about to jump up when another couple of realizations hit her: first, the only things covering her were an ice blue fuzzy blanket and what she recognized as the tattered remains of one of her bright red hoodies, and second, she was lying on the couch in Weiss’ living room.

Her face blanched as it dawned on her that Weiss must have put her here, naked, and then her face switched to red as she heard someone pounding on the front door, breaking the silence that Ruby was unaware of until that moment. Unsure of what to do and unable to see the door, Ruby closed her eyes and did her best to look like an unconscious person.

“Weiss! Open up!” shouted the person attacking the door.

Ruby would know that voice anywhere. Yang was outside the door, she concluded. But why? What was going on?

“It took you long enough,” spat a voice from the room adjacent. “You’re lucky, seeing as I’m the only one at my father’s summer home right now.”

Ruby heard Weiss open the door.

“Lucky indeed, Ice Queen,” Yang replied, her voice slowly lowering to a growl, “Now where is she? And tell me what happened. I’m losing my patience.”

Ruby wasn’t surprised by Yang’s threatening tone. She always appreciated when Yang showed how protective of her she was, even though it could be downright terrifying under the right circumstances.

“Don’t you dare threaten me!” Weiss exclaimed indignantly. “I was helping her! I heard something outside in the backyard, like something heavy fell on the ground, so I looked out my window and I saw your little sister lying there, passed out and nearly naked! I grabbed a blanket and rushed to go help her, and she woke up when I covered her up. I walked her inside, and she said something about how she ‘had gone out for a walk.’ Once we got inside, she immediately went to lie on the couch, and her phone slipped out of her jacket, or rather what’s left of it, and I used it to call you.” she explained.

Silence. Ruby figured it was as good a time as any to let them know she was awake.

“Yang?” she called, her voice unbearably loud compared to the quiet of just moments earlier.

“Ruby!” she heard Yang nearly shout, then the steady thump of boots on hardwood as her older sister rushed to find her.

"Yang, I don't remember how I got here." Ruby confessed when she saw her sister enter the room.

Yang blinked, her violet eyes full of concern. “That’s not good,” she said slowly. After a brief pause she continued, “We can worry about that on the way home. Here, put these on.” With that, she threw the bundle of clothes she brought onto Ruby’s chest, then walked over to tousle her sister’s black and red hair.

Weiss walked in just as Ruby was about to thank her sister. Her pale face flushed bright red when her eyes met Ruby’s, and she quickly looked away.

“S-sorry, Weiss,” Ruby stammered, staring at the sweatpants Yang gave her.

“Just don’t do anything like this ever again,” Weiss snapped, her eyes fixated on the decorative rapier mounted on the wall. “The bathroom is down the hall, second door on the right.”

“Thanks. I’m sorry, I just,” Ruby trailed off, unsure of what to say. She was certain that Weiss had seen far more of her classmate than she ever wanted to, and Ruby wasn’t pleased about the situation either.

The three stood in awkward silence for what seemed to Ruby to be hours. Suddenly, Ruby remembered the clothes that she needed to put on, so she gathered up the blanket around herself and shuffled away to the bathroom.

Several minutes and apologies later, she and Yang left for the silent ride back to their house.


	2. Chapter 2

Almost a month had passed since the ‘incident’ with Ruby. Since then, Weiss’ father had decided to extend his trip for the rest of the summer, and that was fine with Weiss. On top of that, her sister Winter had just called to tell her that she decided to stay at their regular home, so Weiss had the summer home all to herself.

She was excited to be officially alone for the rest of the summer, but she had no idea what to do. She had finished reading her latest book earlier that evening, and the bookstore was closed this late at night. There was no one around to practice fencing with, and she needed new thread for her embroidery, so she was out of ideas.

After contemplating what to do for a while, Weiss settled on brewing herself a nice cup of tea before bed. She had just put the kettle on the stove and had taken out a teacup when she heard a loud noise from outside, like something heavy being thrown at a wall.

“What in the world?” she asked under her breath to no one in particular. She walked over to the living room to look out the sliding glass door that opened into the backyard.

There was something outside. Weiss couldn’t tell what it was in the dark, but she could tell that it was massive. It lurched forward, the sudden movement startling her. She shouted, dropping her empty teacup on the floor in shock. It shattered. The thing turned towards the noise, and suddenly Weiss realized that it was a wolf, a huge black wolf, and it looked as though there was blood on its face and neck. She shouted again, louder.

The wolf raced forward at the noise, straight toward the glass door. Weiss stumbled backwards into a wall. She grabbed the decorative rapier hanging above her head.

Just then, the wolf slammed into the door. With a sickening crunch, a series of cracks in the glass radiated from the point of impact. Weiss stood paralyzed in fear, rapier held loosely at her side.

The wolf stood up and turned around, circling back for another try at the door. The glass gave way this time, exploding into splinters and shards that flew around the room. Weiss dropped to her knees and threw her arms over her neck instinctively, tossing the rapier aside. A large piece cut open her shoulder and two more hit her leg, but she didn’t seem to be hurt too badly, and as far as she could tell, none of the pieces were stuck.

She breathed a sigh of relief before she noticed that the wolf was slowly walking towards her. She scrambled backwards into the wall and cut the palm of her hand on a piece of glass, but kept moving until she hit the back wall. The wolf was still moving forward, unhindered by the glass that covered the ground. It would reach her in mere moments, and Weiss was too terrified to do anything to stop it. As it got closer, Weiss noticed that the blood-soaked fur was actually just red-tipped, an observation that was more confusing than reassuring.

The wolf stood over her, and Weiss only then realized how massive it was. It was nearly as large as her, with silver eyes full of intelligence, and as it sniffed her over, she saw how huge those jaws were. Her arm would be gone in an instant if the wolf bit her. The wolf paused at the huge gash in Weiss’ shoulder. Weiss stopped breathing, her heart pounding so quickly it hurt, as the wolf opened its mouth.

She braced herself, expecting her arm to be missing from the shoulder down any moment. She did not, however, expect the wolf to lick her, nor did she expect it (or rather she, as Weiss now noticed) to clean the blood off each one of her cuts and thoroughly lick her face.

Weiss tried to push the wolf off, but her attempts were in vain. The wolf slobbered all over Weiss’ face and nipped Weiss on the nose, at which point Weiss tried to duck under the wolf’s front leg to get away.

When the wolf realized that Weiss was finished, she helped her up by sliding her face under Weiss’ arm. Weiss was utterly bewildered. She wiped the slobber off of her face while being lead over to the kitchen.

* * *

“So there’s a huge wolf in my kitchen, I’m bleeding all over the place, and the french doors are completely shattered.” Weiss was seated at the breakfast table, and the wolf was lying at her feet where she dropped down after leading Weiss to the kitchen. Weiss took a deep breath. “Okay, Weiss, don’t freak out, and don’t make any sudden movements.” She was aware of how unbelievable this situation was, and she just couldn’t stop herself from laughing at it all.

The wolf perked her ears up at the new sound and started panting in a way that sounded almost like Weiss’ laugh.

Weiss paused and looked at the wolf, confused. “What is it? Are you mocking me?” She accused the wolf. “And why did you drag me in here?”

As if in response, the wolf sniffed around, then tried to nose open a cabinet door close to the floor but the child safety lock stopped her. She sat down and whined, staring at the cabinet.

“You… you want something from there?”

The wolf wagged her heavy tail, smacking it against the tile floor.

“Okay, sure,” Weiss said, hardly believing she was taking a request from a wolf. Weiss knew dogs were intelligent, and wolves even more so, but a wolf asking for something from a cabinet? That was absolute lunacy. Weiss opened the cabinet door. The wolf sat down and stared at the shelves inside. When Weiss looked inside, she saw neatly organized shelves with things like bleach, sponges, dish soap, spare hand towels, and a first aid kit all meticulously stacked.

The wolf sniffed around more, knocking over some soap onto the no-longer-clean hand towels, then settled on the first aid kid and, grabbing it with her jaws, pulled it out and dropped it at Weiss’ feet.

Weiss frowned. There was no way that the wolf knew what that was for. It was just a coincidence that she needed it, Weiss told herself. She cleaned up her scrapes and cuts as best she could. Knowing she wouldn’t be able to sleep by this point, she busied herself by sweeping the floor clean, all the while keeping a nervous eye on the wolf. She didn’t seem to be the least bit aggressive. In fact, she seemed quite friendly, like an overgrown puppy.

Finally satisfied with the state of the living room, Weiss settled down back in the kitchen and looked over at the wolf.

“It’s weird,” she mused, “How can you have red-tipped fur? Did someone dye it? Honestly, it reminds me of…” she trailed off. “Oh no. No, no, no. Absolutely not,” she tried to reason with herself. “Your eyes, your fur, you really do look just like her. This is impossible, a dream.”

Weiss stood up and put her hands on her head. The sharp pain from her bandaged hand reminded her that she was, in fact, not dreaming, and was instead very much awake.

She looked at the wolf again. The red pattern in the fur looked like it could be a hoodie. It was tipped red from the ears down past the wolf’s front shoulders, ending in ragged-looking bits on her back.

Weiss took a deep breath.

“Ruby?” she tried.

The wolf perked her head up and wagged her tail.

“Shit.”

Ruby just kept wagging her tail.


	3. Chapter 3

The sun rose and so did Ruby, now in human form, naked save for her torn up hoodie and lying between two blankets.

“Oh my god,” she said to herself in disbelief, recognizing Weiss’ kitchen from nearly a month ago. “I must be dreaming about this, there’s no way this happened again.” She sat up and looked around, her eyes settling on Weiss, whose face was planted on the table, her usually impeccably neat silver-white hair strewn across her face. Ruby couldn’t help but laugh at the sight.

Weiss woke up with a start, jerking backwards in her chair and smacking her knees against the underside of the table. Ruby stopped laughing, realizing that Weiss was likely to start chewing her out any moment now.

“Ruby, do you remember anything that happened last night?” Weiss asked. Ruby was taken aback by the lack of yelling that was instead replaced with a tone of concern.

“No, I don’t.” Ruby felt terrified. She pulled the top blanket tighter around herself and sat up straighter.

“This is going to sound crazy, but,” Weiss began, then paused to search for the right words. She decided on the blunt version of the story. “You’re a werewolf.”

“Weiss,” Ruby said apprehensively, “What on earth are you talking about?”

“Under the full moon, you grow teeth and fur and apparently you lose your memory. I know it’s hard to believe, I wouldn’t have myself if I didn’t see it in person, but it’s the truth.” Weiss picked up the first aid kit from the countertop and handed it to Ruby. “Here. Do you see those teeth marks? Those are yours.”

Ruby took the plastic case and looked it over. Her stomach lurched when she saw the bite marks on the handle. Somehow, Ruby believed her. She pushed the first aid kit back towards Weiss, who took it with her bandaged hand.

“Did,” Ruby nervously swallowed, “Did I do that?” she asked, gesturing to the various cuts that peppered Weiss.

“You didn’t mean to,” Weiss answered. 

Ruby’s face fell and her shoulders dropped. Weiss winced.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” she explained, "You broke down my door and the shattered glass went everywhere."

"The shattered glass? I broke down your door?" Ruby timidly asked the floor, not sure of why Weiss hadn't killed her yet.

“Yes, you did. And I’ll be sending a bill.”

That was why, Ruby thought.

Weiss continued, “But that’s beside the point. You came to my house twice. Why? You still had a little bit of sense when you were a wolf, so you meant to come here. Tell me why.”

“I, uh, well,” Ruby stammered, unsure of what to say.

“Oh come on, you can’t tell me you don’t know,” Weiss pressed.

Ruby’s face flushed red, a stark contrast against the ice blue of the blanket wrapped around her. “I really don’t know,” she insisted.

“Fine,” Weiss said, but her tone made Ruby think that it was anything but. “Do you have your phone? Call your sister so she can pick you up again. And then you two can figure out how you can make sure this never happens again.”

Ruby’s hand disappeared beneath the blanket as she checked her hoodie pockets for her phone. As she brought it back out, she was already dialing Yang’s number.

“Ruby? What’s up?” Yang asked when she picked up.

“So, do you, um,” Ruby started, hesitant to admit what happened.

“Yes?” Yang said, her vaguely impatient tone urging Ruby to hurry up.

“Do you remember what, uh, what happened last month?” Ruby mumbled into her phone.

Yang laughed, her smirk practically audible to Ruby. “So you two do have a thing going on! I’m so proud of you, having the guts to tell her. And look where it got you!”

Ruby could feel her face burning up. “What? That’s not at all what--” she began, but Yang wasn’t listening.

“Don’t give me that, I saw the way you two looked at each other back in school. You weren’t fooling anyone.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about!” Ruby said, far too quickly to be believable. Weiss raised an eyebrow, but she couldn’t hear Yang’s end of the line. At least, Ruby hoped she couldn’t. She took a few deep breaths. “Anyways, can you just get over here? Weiss has something to tell you.”

At the mention of her name, Weiss held out her hand to take the phone. “I can tell her now, you know.”

Ruby muttered something about Weiss stealing the phone as she relinquished it to the older girl.

“Your sister is a werewolf,” Weiss said matter-of-factly.

“Oh, really? And let me guess, you’re a vampire,” Yang replied.

Weiss heard a muffled voice in the background on the other end of the phone.

“Nothing, Weiss is just being weird,” Yang said, her voice sounding far away. Weiss realized that she was talking to someone else, too curious to feel indignant over Yang’s rude comment.

“Oh, she says that Ruby is a werewolf. What a joke, right?”

More of the muffled voice. This time, Weiss caught the words “lunar calendar.”

“I think it was the fourth?” There was a pause. When Yang spoke again, her voice sounded normal again. “Right, I’ll be right over. Oh, and I’m bringing Blake, too.” 


	4. Chapter 4

Blake did not expect to be spending her morning at Weiss’ house, of all places, and yet there she was, sitting on a couch with Yang and Ruby and across from Weiss, explaining the lunar cycle to the three of them.

“So in conclusion, while scientifically the moon is full for only a moment, it appears full for three nights. Which is why it hasn’t been a full twenty-nine days since Ruby transformed last.”

“Wait, but wouldn’t she have transformed on those other days too?” Yang asked, still not willing to believe her sister could be a werewolf.

“Not if she was bitten that night,” Blake pointed out.

The room fell silent.

“You’re sure Ruby is a werewolf?” Yang asked, not looking at anyone in particular while she was asking.

“Yang, you saw the giant hole in my wall where the doors used to be. You heard Blake’s ten-minute lesson on the lunar cycle. I saw her as a werewolf last night. What other proof do you need?” Weiss asked.

“Maybe something a little more concrete?” Yang said, her voice rising to a shout.

Blake grabbed Yang’s arm in an attempt to calm her down, but Yang shrugged her off.

“Yang, it’s fine. We’ll know for sure tonight,” Ruby said, “The moon is full for three nights, and last night was the first.”

“We just need to figure out a way to keep Ruby safe,” Blake reasoned.

Yang slouched in her seat, but seemed to have calmed down.

“So Weiss, how did you figure out it was Ruby last night?” Blake asked, hoping Yang wouldn’t make a fuss again any time soon. She couldn’t help but get slightly mad at Yang. After all, it wasn’t Blake’s idea to skip their date and help out Ruby. She was happy to help, though.

“Well,” Weiss started, “The reason that my suspicions stuck was because I noticed was that she was a girl--” She stopped her sentence short, realizing what she had just said.

Ruby flushed red and her jaw went slack, the implications not lost on her. Yang was speechless. Blake looked away and covered her face with her hand. She started to regret letting Yang drag her here.

“That’s not what I, that is to say,” Weiss sputtered. “Not that it necessarily makes you a girl, but with dogs it’s--”

“I did not need to hear that,” Yang said, cutting Weiss short.

Blake turned her head back towards the group just in time to see a scowling Weiss open her mouth for a retort.

“Weiss, please, can you just finish telling your story?” Blake asked in an effort to save everyone’s dignity. She hoped that Yang would have the sense not to antagonize their host any longer.

“Right. When I first saw her I thought that her face was covered in blood, but after she calmed down and I had the chance to look at her, I saw that her fur was colored red, just like how Ruby's hair is. That’s when I made the connection. I figured that her behavior so far would match up with Ruby’s, so I called her by name and she responded,” Weiss said, leaving her moment of panicked disbelief out of the story.

“So I was still able to reason, then,” Ruby said, almost to herself.

“You still broke down my door, so we can’t really count on that,” Weiss pointed out.

“You just love saying that, don’t you,” Ruby mumbled under her breath. Blake held back a laugh.

“So we have to restrain you then,” Yang said, “You okay with that, sis?”

“For now, I guess,” Ruby said more to her twiddling thumbs than the rest of the group.

There was long pause. After looking vaguely uncomfortable for several moments, Yang broke the silence.

“So, uh, Weiss,” she started, slouching back on the couch, casually wrapping her arm around Blake’s shoulder, “Do you think you want help boarding up that hole in your wall?”

Weiss narrowed her eyes, glaring at Yang, then at Ruby. “I won’t be boarding up anything,” she declared, “You will.” She pointed at Ruby, her gaze more piercing than the rapier she had remounted on the wall behind her. Ruby shrank back in her seat.

“Do I really have to?” the younger girl protested.

“You broke down my door!”

“Fine, I’ll board it back up.”

“Don’t worry sis, I’ll help you out,” Yang said, clapping Ruby on the shoulder.

“Thanks,” Ruby said, rubbing the spot where Yang hit her.

“I’ve got nothing else to do today, I may as well stick around to lend a hand,” Blake said with a shrug.

Weiss frowned, most likely with displeasure at her failed attempt at punishing Ruby with menial labor. With a huff, she proclaimed, “Well if you two are going to help her, I suppose I will too.”

“Are you going to be okay, sleeping here with a broken door?” Blake questioned Weiss.

“I,” Weiss started, but Ruby interrupted her.

“You can crash with me and Yang tonight,” she offered, then quickly amended, “Well, that is, only if it’s okay with Yang.”

“Sure! Blake can stay too, it’ll be a sleepover!” Yang said, full of childish excitement.

Blake smiled, unable to stop herself. Her girlfriend's enthusiasm was contagious.

“Fine,” Weiss said, her grateful tone clashing with her disinterested statement.

“It’s settled, then,” Blake said.

“Um, guys?” Ruby asked, “How do you even board up a wall safely?”

Blake sighed. This is going to be a long day, she thought.


	5. Chapter 5

Weiss took one look at the Xiao-Long-Rose home and felt a shudder run down her spine.  Before the worn down front door lay a chipped concrete slab that served as the front porch.  The faded peeling paint on the dented aluminum siding was complemented by the slightly rusting gutters that framed the one-story house that she would be spending the night in.

Yang strode across the unkempt front yard, completely ignoring the footpath, and twisted open the door knob.  Weiss would have sworn she heard the hinges creak from across the yard as Yang swung it open.  She took a deep breath.  She came from a family of impeccable standards, she reminded herself, and she needed to keep that in mind.  Ruby and Yang were her hosts, so it would be unbelievably rude to nitpick about their home.

She swallowed her pride and stepped across the stone path after Yang.  After she walked inside, she found herself in a relatively well-kept TV room.  A few books and magazines were scattered on the lone coffee table and there were a couple of gaming systems hooked up to the TV, controllers tossed carelessly aside, but the mess wasn’t unpleasant.  Weiss even thought it could be described as cozy.

“Well, make yourself at home, I guess,” Yang poked her head in from a room over.  “Do you want anything? Water? Soda? Cookies?”

Weiss smiled politely, automatically replying with, “I’m fine right now, but thank you.”

Yang shrugged and mumbled something Weiss interpreted as, “Suit yourself,” before disappearing into the kitchen.  Weiss heard the distinctive, quiet noise of a refrigerator door opening.

Suddenly, Weiss heard the thuds of footsteps combined with an odd clicking noise.  Rapid barks made her realize the clicks were a dog’s claws on the hardwood floor.

“Weiss!” cried Ruby as she ran into the room.  A small black and white corgi followed her into the room, barking and yapping like mad.

“Dog!” Weiss shouted involuntarily.  The dog was just too cute to ignore.  She bent down and picked him up, causing him to squirm and try to lick her.  “Aw, who’s a cute little doggy?” she cooed, “What’s your name, li’l guy?”

“His name’s Zwei,” Ruby answered.

Zwei barked in agreement.

“So, how did you like Yang’s driving?” Ruby asked, smirking slightly.

Weiss’ stomach churned as she remembered her ride.  Yang was the only one among them who could actually provide transportation, but there was only one passenger at a time on her bike.  Yang drove at breakneck speed to make up for the three trips she made, and Weiss wasn’t ready to repeat that.

Before Weiss could answer, Yang, now with Blake, returned from the kitchen eating potato chips from a large bag.  Zwei leapt from Weiss' arms and scampered off while the four girls stood around awkwardly.

Weiss decided to break the silence.  “So, Blake, how do you know so much about the moon?”

“Oh,” Blake said absentmindedly,  “I took an Astronomy elective last year.  It’s an interesting subject.”

Weiss managed a feeble smile as the awkward silence continued.

“I guess we need to lock me up for the night,” Ruby said.  The younger girl was right; the sky was already fading to a pale orange.  The moon would be rising soon.

Yang laughed sharply before asking, “We aren't gonna like, chain you up in a closet, right?”

Blake shrugged.

“I think chains is a bit excessive, but Ruby’s right.  It's too dangerous to not lock her up,” Weiss said.  After she finished her thought, she saw fear flit across Ruby's wide silver eyes.  Her stomach lurched as she realized how much her comment hurt Ruby.  She almost wished she were back on Yang's bike.

“You guys should set up a watch,” Ruby suggested, “To make sure I don't do anything.”

“Where will we put you?” Weiss asked.

“How about in her room?” Yang suggested.  “You okay with that, Ruby?”

Ruby shrugged.  “At least I can get changed quickly when I turn back.”

Yang clapped her hands together.  “It's settled then,” she said.  “Weiss can take the guest room.  Blake can take my room and I’ll take the couch.”  Yang grinned at her girlfriend, mischief glinting in her lilac eyes.  “Unless you want to be in the same room, Blake.”

“Ew!  That's gross!” Ruby shouted, averting her eyes and covering her ears.

“Yikes, okay, Ruby.  I take the couch,” Yang said.  “And first watch, I guess.”

After being directed to the guest room, Weiss got herself settled.  She was changing into her pajamas when a loud, painful cry came from Ruby's room.  It quickly shifted into a howl, and Weiss heard Yang gasp, presumably in horror, from the hall.

“It's okay, guys,” Yang called, her voice wavering slightly.  “She,” Yang paused, “She just transformed.”

Weiss waited in the following silence before drifting into an uneasy sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

Yang couldn’t figure out why she volunteered to watch Ruby first.  She hated to just sit by Ruby’s door and stew in her anxiety.  The door slowly creaked open, tapping the back of the kitchen chair Yang had brought to the hallway.

“Yang, you don’t have to wait outside,” Ruby remarked, peeking her head out of the doorway.  She looked around before mumbling, “Maybe we can read a book together, like when we were little.”

Yang smiled and let her sister lead her inside.  “Yeah, I can get behind that,” she replied, “What book?”

Ruby shrugged as she stepped toward her bookshelf.  “You can pick one from here.  I--” Ruby cried out sharply, cutting herself short.  Yang took a step backwards with a loud gasp.

Ruby hunched over, her cry of pain drawing out into a howl as her body twisted and rearranged itself.  Her chest heaved and she dropped to the floor as the seams of her clothing split to accommodate her shifting bones and muscles.  As Yang watched in horror, Ruby’s remaining clothes melded with the fur now sprouting all over her body.  Yang screwed her eyes shut, unable to look any longer.

When Yang finally worked up the nerve to open her eyes,  she found her sister replaced by a huge black and red wolf with unnervingly intelligent silver eyes.  She shuddered and called out, “It’s ok, guys.  She,” Yang paused, trying hard not to throw up.  When she trusted herself to open her mouth again, she finished , “She just transformed.”

Several deep breaths later, Yang realized that Ruby had moved on from investigating her room to gnawing at a bedpost.  Dog-owner instinct kicked in, and Yang shouted, “No!  Bad dog.  Wolf.  Sister?”  The realization gave Yang pause but she resolved not to think about it too hard.  Ruby blissfully ignored her, opting to continue chewing and slobbering on the wooden pole.  Yang grabbed a paperback from the bookshelf, rolled it up, and stopped before she swatted Ruby on the nose.  Let’s not make a big mistake, thought Yang as the massive wolf stared her down, still gnawing on the bed.

“Ok, sis,” she began, letting her instincts take over.  She took a step forward.  Ruby stopped chewing, her attention now fully on Yang.  “Don’t do that.  You’ll regret it when you’re back to normal.”  Yang found she was still walking forward.

Ruby growled, low and rumbling.  Yang stopped, but stood her ground.  At least she stopped trying to chew off the post, Yang thought.

“Hey, hey,” she said, trying her best to imitate her dad.  “It’s ok.  No one is gonna try and hurt you, ok?”

Ruby’s ears flattened as she stood up.  Her head came almost up to Yang’s waist, something Yang could tell even from halfway across the room.

Shit, Yang thought, I fucked up.

Ruby’s low growl grew louder as she bared her teeth.  She took a step forward.

Yang took a step back.

“Whoa, there, big wolf,” she said, “No need to be so upset.  I really don’t want to fight my baby sister.”

Ruby took another step forward.  This time, Yang held her ground.

“Ruby Rose,” she began in her most stern voice, but stopped when Ruby shook her head and stopped growling.  She sniffed the air, then bounded forward, put her huge black paws on Yang’s shoulders, and started licking her sister’s face.

“What the fuck?” Yang asked, instinctively shoving off the monster that was about to bite off her arm not two seconds ago.

Ruby tilted her head inquisitively, tail wagging.  Yang recognized that body language.  Suddenly, Ruby’s shift in attitude made sense.

“You’re back to normal?  Like, in control?” she asked, still wiping slobber off of her face.

Ruby barked once.

“If your name’s Ruby Rose, spin in a circle.”

Ruby complied.

“Aw, neat!” Yang cried, grinning ear to ear.  “Ok, is thirteen times seventeen two-hundred and twenty-nine?  Bark once for ‘yes,’ twice for ‘no,’ three times for ‘I really doubt you did that math off the top of your head, Yang.’”

Ruby locked eyes with Yang and barked three times.

“Rude.  But correct.”

After a few moments, Ruby plodded off to the bookshelf and started nosing at the books in her reach.

“I owe you a story, don’t I?” Yang asked.

Ruby wagged her tail.

Yang took that as a yes and scanned the shelves for her favorite one.  She grabbed it, then crossed the room to sit on the bed.  Ruby followed her close behind, curling up next to her big sis.

Yang scanned the table of contents, flipped through the pages, then began reading, “There was once a poor widow who lived in a lonely cottage. In front of the cottage was a garden wherein stood two rose-trees, one of which bore white and the other red roses. She had two children who were like the two rose-trees, and one was called Snow-white and the other Rose-red…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story Yang is reading is called "Snow-White and Rose-Red" and can be found [ here.](http://www.bartleby.com/17/2/42.html)


End file.
